Even Nana noticed the footsteps; was this a warning to him about something?
He didn't want to alert the enemy, so he didn't expose the identity of the Black Organization Cadre; but he didn't trust the Black Organization, so he kept a close watch.
—So, he intentionally made noise twice in a row, just to interrupt himself?
But thinking about it, he didn't really want to do anything.
Borse thought indifferently.
"Um.." Nana spoke up bravely, struggling to play the role of the one to break the deadlock.
Facing the gazes that were suddenly all cast upon her—two of which, though cold and casual, had an unexpected presence—she managed a strained smile. "Let's head back first."
Under the varying gazes of the other three people present, Nana felt the smile on her face becoming increasingly stiff.
After a long time, Akai Shuichi finally gave up confronting the Ordinary person and turned to walk inside.
His strides were not large, his pace seemed somewhat leisurely—he was still paying close attention to the movements behind him.
Nana breathed a sigh of relief, the muscles on her face relaxing visibly, the smile at the corners of her lips seemed even more genuine.
The Boy glanced at his hesitantly, appearing as if he wanted to say something to him, but he did not dare to make any small movements in front of Borse. She could only look at Nana aggrievedly, hoping she would understand what he meant.
Nana..
I.. I'm sorry, Little one, I understand what you mean.
But you have to understand, you wouldn't dare provoke such a dangerous person, neither would I! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
So she could only pretend not to have noticed the Little one's highly palpable gaze, gave Borse a slight smile, then turned to follow the Masked man away.
For now, there were only two people left.
Borse looked at the little boy with a half-smile, a hint of coldness in his eyes that made the boy shiver involuntarily.
The Boy grit his teeth and suddenly asked, "Do.. do you have any instructions for me?"
Borse blinked.
He leaned down again and whispered into the Boy's ear in a breathy voice that carried almost no volume:
“You are the first witness to the corpse, aren't you?”
The Boy's expression showed a hint of regret, but Borse did not care about that, because he had already noticed the Child's body suddenly stiffen.
The Boy forced himself to relax. Even at this moment, he still did not make any suspicious movements; he merely replied in a slightly trembling, fearful voice, "Wha.. what are you talking about?"
Borse let out a sneer.
He gave a direct hint: "Do you know the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief, Hattori Heijizo?"
This sentence left the Child looking somewhat confused; he tilted his head slightly, as if recalling something. In a place where no one could see him, the panicked expression had already faded from his face, leaving behind a calmness that was unbefitting of his age.
In the next second, as if realizing something, the Boy's eyes suddenly widened.
He could hardly restrain his urge to turn his head to look at that person beside him, but the black-haired youth gave him no such opportunity.
Borse pressed his hand against his shoulder and warned him in a low, hoarse voice, "Don't do anything you shouldn't."
..
When Nana returned to the living room from the Aida family's yard, she unexpectedly found Kinda Ichichi talking about something with Conan.
Seeing his arrive, Kinda Ichichi was clearly quite happy and raised his hand to greet him: "Hashimoto—"
Nana glanced around, gave a faint smile to her boyfriend who was watching her, then smoothly joined the duo of one large and one small detective.
—Not far away, Mori Kogoro, who had been yawning continuously, was ignored by them.
"What did you find?" Nana asked bluntly as soon as she arrived.
This attitude surprised Conan, who was used to competing with Heiji, but Kindaichi accepted it well: "It's not much, but it's quite useful."
"We asked Mrs. Aida some more questions and made some new discoveries." Mentioning the Case, Kinda Ichichi's expression turned serious.
Nana listened quietly by her side as he narrated the story slowly.
It turned out that the two children—twins—that Mrs. Aida and Mr. Aida once had were not born to Mrs. Aida and her husband.
Before they were married, Mrs. Aida was already pregnant.
And Mr. Aida was aware of this matter.
At that time, Mr. Aida had a great deal of affection for Mrs. Aida, whom he had met through a group blind date, had been pursuing her. However, Mrs. Aida was more focused on her career at that time and had no intention of dating or marrying. After several of her indirect rejections failed to work, she had once rejected him very firmly.
However, at that time, Mrs. Aida, who was in the midst of her career ascent, had a momentary lapse and became pregnant. He originally wanted to have an abortion, but his health was poor, since she was carrying twins, an abortion would not only make it impossible for his to ever have his own children again in this lifetime, but would also have a significant impact on his health.
Because of this, Mr. Aida, who learned of the matter by accident, once tried his utmost to dissuade Mrs. Aida, even proposed to the man the Wife loved, promising to treat the children as his own. Moved by Mr. Aida, the Wife eventually married him.
Perhaps because these two children were themselves an "Accident," Mrs. Aida did not care for them much.
After marriage, Mr. Aida also held some grudges regarding this, combined with his irritable temperament, he would sometimes lose his temper because of it, though it never escalated to the level of domestic violence, the way the Family lived together was acceptable.
The whole matter seemed to have nothing wrong with it. Even though it felt like Mr. Aida was somewhat innocent in this matter, the two children obtained through an accident were a bit pitiful, a mother's heartache is not something that can be easily overcome; however, even though she did not like it, Mrs. Aida did not take his anger out on his children by abusing them.
As for their other interactions, they were matters between husband and wife after all, so it was difficult for them to say anything.
"But.. why would the Killer choose Mr. Aida?" Nana's mood was somewhat heavy.
You want to ask if Mr. Aida committed a 'mistake' serious enough, right?" Kinda Ichichi understood Nana's thoughts—he had the same thought, but: "Mrs. Aida said she wasn't quite sure.
Nana pursed her lips slightly. "Speaking of which, our line of thinking has always been focused on the motive.. Could that be too narrow?"
Conan looked up. "So, Sister Hashimoto means we should try thinking about the timing and the method of the crime?"
Nana nodded in agreement.
Kindaichi thought for a moment. "Let's all think about it. This case.. too many people have already died."
Even if some people have committed very serious mistakes, there are others whose crimes do not warrant death.
To judge others through vigilantism, to evaluate others based on one's own opinions, to decide the life or death of others based on one's own principles—it is always wrong.
“Shouldn't we ask others to learn more about the situation!” Conan raised his hand to attract the attention of the two, suggested, "How about Mr. Aida's colleagues?"
Kindaichi thought for a moment, then finally said, "That works too."
Nana nodded in agreement, then looked at Conan's small stature and childish face, reiterating once more, "But Edogawa-kun—it's Kindaichi-senpai and I, not including you."
She lowered her head, her tone serious: "You're still too young!"
Conan: …………
Why, why can't you just let this one thing go? (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
..
It was getting late, everyone began to head home to their families. After Dr. Shinzo performed a diagnosis on Mrs. Aida, she bid her farewell and stated that he would return to see her again.
Mrs. Aida's face was still pale, she nodded with difficulty, saying nothing.
The Sun had gradually set, the evening glow spread in dense, overlapping layers, tinting the horizon in magnificent shades of purple and crimson. However, as the light faded, all would eventually return to silence.
Nana tilted her head. She raised her eyes to look at the sky, where the brilliant and magnificent sunset glow stained her eyes, making her green eyes even more radiant.
Yaji stayed by her side.
Along the way, both of them appeared somewhat exhausted after a day of being caught between various incidents, but compared to that, Nana, who had exerted more mental and physical effort and possessed inferior physical stamina compared to Niwang, was even more tired.
Nana's eyes were half-closed, with Yaji still holding her, she appeared incredibly drowsy.
As time flies, the sunset glow staining the horizon gradually fades, the Moon slowly rises, casting a bright and clear moonlight path for the two of them.
Somehow, the Black-haired girl had an indescribable, strange premonition in his heart.
She felt that everything that happened today was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Akai Shuichi's sudden appearances twice were because he had been monitoring Borse to prevent him from harming civilians—after all, he is a member of the Black Organization.
Chapter 137: Chapter 121 "You guys are being way too exaggerated..
Borse looked quietly at the woman before him.
Despite the ruthlessness of time leaving many traces on her face, this woman, who was already over forty, still retained the beauty of her youth. Her cheekbones were not overly prominent, her bridge of the nose was high and straight, with well-defined brow bones that gave her features a deep appearance. His eyes were red and swollen from crying over the past few days, yet they remained clear and sharp as she met Borse's gaze.
"Have you given it some thought?" the young black-haired youth asked him, yet his posture did not suggest he was asking a question.
Mrs. Aida—or rather, she should be called Byrrh—looked at the Black-haired youth with dark eyes, tilting her head slightly as if she were somewhat out of sorts: "The conditions you propose are quite different from the ones Vermouth suggested."
Borse did not hesitate in the slightest. He merely cast a glance at Mrs. Aida without any emotion, as if the choice of the person opposite him was of no importance. "Which one will you choose?"
Mrs. Aida looked up at the moon. After a moment, she turned back to look at Borse, his expression calm and a faint smile lingering on the corners of his mouth:
At that time, it was—a more beneficial kind.
..
At that time, Nana was heading to Mr. Aida's former workplace with Kinda Ichichi and Conan to learn more about the situation.
This time, Dr. Shinzo and the others, as well as Yaji, did not come along.
For Dr. Shinzo, the Patient's condition was a greater concern, Yaji had originally wanted to follow Nana, but their Tennis Club from junior high school was having a gathering these few days—which had been scheduled days ago—so there was a time conflict.
Nana expressed her "understanding" in a very considerate manner: "It's fine, you go ahead, I can manage perfectly well on my own!"
Yaji was also quite helpless about this, in the end, could only sigh and tap Nana's head—the latter held her head, looking somewhat dazed: Was she losing her sense of dignity in front of Yaji more and more?
As for how Conan got here.. ahem, this Hotel has investment from the Suzuki Group.
Although she felt it was unsafe for Conan, an elementary student, to be running around everywhere, since he had already arrived, Nana and Kinda Ichichi could only (voluntarily) take on the responsibility of looking after him.
In addition to the three people, they were also accompanied by an Officer Takagi, who had absolutely no presence.
What he learned from his colleagues was nothing new.
Aside from resentment toward Mr. Aida's violent temper, only his more soft-tempered colleagues would praise his professional competence; everyone else had almost no interaction with him beyond that of ordinary colleagues.
However, three detectives unexpectedly discovered that Mr. Aida's temper was originally within a controllable range, but his mood had only grown worse since he got married. After his child died five years ago, perhaps due to grief, he became somewhat more tolerant, however, this phenomenon did not last for long.
Before Death, he seemed to have encountered some trouble, instead, he lacked the energy to lose his temper with his Subordinate.
As for this, the one who knew more was Mr. Aida's assistant, Ms. Matsumoto.